WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1602/97 by Anna KARAMANOU to the Commission. Subsidizing the cost of shipping raw materials to the Greek islands
Date: 1997-05-05
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Aegean Islands, EAGGF, aid system, carriage of goods, competitiveness, island region, raw material, small and medium-sized enterprises, supply, transport price













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91997E1602

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1602/97 by Anna KARAMANOU to the Commission. Subsidizing the cost of shipping raw materials to the Greek islands  


Official Journal C 391 , 23/12/1997 P. 0108 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-1602/97 by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission (5 May 1997)Subject: Subsidizing the cost of shipping raw materials to the Greek islandsThe Greek archipelago of the Aegean, like other island regions in Europe, presents a number of important particularities, and faces problems owing to its geographical fragmentation, its remoteness from the centre of the European Union and its island character.A serious obstacle to the economic development of the islands is the cost of shipping products and raw materials. Given that the regional operational programmes within the framework of the CSF seek, inter alia, to strengthen existing small and medium-sized processing units in order to make them viable and more competitive so that they can contribute to the economic and social development of remote regions in the European Union;Will the Commission say:What measures it intends to take to reduce the cost of shipping raw materials and to strengthen the economic competitiveness of island regions?Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission (4 June 1997)The Commission does not at present intend to propose measures under which the Structural Funds would cover part of the cost of transporting raw materials in the way suggested by the Honourable Member. However, with regard to transport in the Greek islands, the port, airport and road infrastructure part-financed both by the European Regional Development Fund and by the Cohesion Fund, in particular in the context of the trans-European transport network, is contributing to a steady improvement in the quality and the possibilities of transport in these regions. This facilitates the movement of goods and persons and indirectly reduces the cost of transport, with a positive effect on competitiveness.It should also be noted that aid from public funds, of which 90% comes from the Guarantee Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF), is granted to improve supplies of certain foodstuffs and raw materials to the smaller Aegean islands (all the islands except for Crete and Euboea). This aid, which comes under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2019/93 ((OJ L 184, 27.7.1993. )), aims to reduce transport costs and, consequently, the prices of these products to consumers on the islands. According to the Commission Report on the implementation of this Regulation ((COM(96) 387 final. )), the total aid allocated by the EAGGF for the initial period of implementation of the measures (1994-95) was ECU 2.94 million. This amount should grow as the Regulation moves from the start-up to the operational phase.